“I decided to do an investigation of my own and talk with experts about major studies showing that prolonged isolation can aggravate — and even contribute to — mental illness," he said.

Stroud credits the education he is receiving at Point Park and his work as a graduate assistant for encouraging him to report about the prison system.

"For two years I worked as a graduate assistant in the Innocence Institute under the direction of Professor Bill Moushey," Stroud said. "I learned how to protect sources, read court documents, maneuver the state's Right-To-Know Law and how to fairly portray allegations of systematic abuse, all of which I applied when preparing my article for The Nation."

Stroud is a freelance writer for national publications that include The Atlantic, Reuters newswire and a tech website, The Verge.